{"name":"Applied AI in Croatia — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for Croatia, tagged by kind, industry, region and role, sourced and dated. A slice of the State of Applied AI record, maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI.","source":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/croatia","partOf":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/evidence.json","attribution":"Industrial Research Unit, Straits Institute for Applied AI","updated":"2026-10-29","facet":{"kind":"country","name":"Croatia","slug":"croatia","iso2":"HR","region":"Europe"},"counts":{"entries":20,"deployments":10,"evidenceImpact":0,"evidenceAdoption":3,"regulation":7,"industries":5,"countries":1,"linked":20},"entries":[{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Ministry of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation (Croatia)","text":"Damir Habijan, Minister of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation, opened a 30-day consultation on Croatia's national AI plan, the National Plan for the Development of Artificial Intelligence to 2032. Spending under the AI strategy reaches €932.1 million by 2032; 33 action-plan measures to 2028 (€382.1 million) train 7,000 citizens, 10,000 teachers and 5,000 civil servants.","date":"2026-10-16","source":"https://www.novilist.hr/novosti/hrvatska/hrvatska-planira-uloziti-932-milijuna-eura-u-umjetnu-inteligenciju-sto-ce-od-toga-dobiti-gradani"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Transport & Logistics","region":"Croatia","org":"Državni zavod za mjeriteljstvo (State Office for Metrology, Croatia)","text":"Croatia's State Office for Metrology granted self-driving approval to Tesla's FSD (Supervised), accepting the Dutch RDW's provisional EU type approval of 10 April 2026. Motorists may let the driver-assist software steer, change lanes, route and park, but must watch the road throughout. Eight European nations have now signed off.","date":"2026-09-29","source":"https://www.glas-slavonije.hr/mozaik/autoglas/2026/09/29/teslin-fsd-odobren-u-hrvatskoj-ali-automobil-jos-nije-potpuno-autonoman-788606/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Transport & Logistics","region":"Croatia","role":"Autonomous vehicle safety operator","org":"Verne","text":"Verne and Pony.ai put passengers into robotaxis with an empty driver's seat on Zagreb's public roads from 10 September 2026, which both firms call a European first. Driverless robotaxi rides trace a 22-kilometre corridor from Verne's base and a main city business district to Franjo Tudman Airport Zagreb. Since paid operations opened in April the autonomous fleet has covered over 200,000 kilometres and several thousand fare-paying rides, at a mean passenger score of 4.7 out of 5.","date":"2026-09-10","source":"http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ponyai-and-verne-kick-off-fully-driverless-robotaxi-test-rides-in-zagreb-302874840.html"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Gong","text":"50 of 78 leading public bodies in Croatia already use or test artificial intelligence while the Government does not, according to 'AI u javnom sektoru: Kako Hrvatska koristi umjetnu inteligenciju', the earliest systematic map of AI in the public sector anywhere in the country. Half of that group, 26 bodies, admitted to holding no internal rules governing its use. Gong compiled the survey between February and the close of August 2026 via freedom-of-information requests, logging 55 distinct AI solutions that run from Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT to biometric identification, medical diagnostics and the anonymisation of court decisions. Sergej Zupanic, who wrote it, called the picture of government AI use available beforehand fragmented and limited.","date":"2026-09-10","source":"https://www.novilist.hr/novosti/hrvatska/umjetnu-inteligenciju-u-hrvatskoj-koriste-policija-sudovi-ministarstva-rijetki-imaju-jasno-definirana-pravila"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Croatia","org":"CARNET","text":"CARNET, the Croatian Academic and Research Network, has finished a school AI curriculum spanning primary year five to the end of secondary, closing with 'Umjetna inteligencija: od koncepta do primjene' for third and fourth years. Uptake in 2025/2026 reached 121 primary and 84 secondary schools — extracurricular lower down, an elective above — at 35 hours a year. AI teaching in schools grew from CARNET's nearly 16 million euro project 'Podrska primjeni digitalnih tehnologija u obrazovanju - BrAIn'.","date":"2026-09-01","source":"https://www.dalmacijadanas.hr/umjetna-inteligencija-ulazi-u-skole-evo-o-cemu-ce-daci-uciti/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","role":"Fire monitoring centre dispatcher","org":"Odašiljači i veze","text":"Odašiljači i veze has widened OIV Fire Detect AI, Croatia's AI wildfire detection grid, by 50 watch cameras across 25 fresh sites, favouring protected land such as national parks and nature parks; the estate now stands at 143 locations and 282 cameras. Advanced algorithms pick out smoke by daylight and flame after dark, engineered for unbroken cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round, with every county fire monitoring centre able to pull pictures and readings. Procurement fell to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition; the forest-fire detection network was paid for through the Competitiveness and Cohesion Programme 2021-2027.","date":"2026-08-25","source":"https://www.novilist.hr/novosti/hrvatska/unaprjeden-sustav-videonadzora-za-rano-otkrivanje-pozara-na-25-novih-lokacija/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","role":"Election commission officer","org":"State Election Commission","text":"Croatia's State Election Commission has opened GlasAI, an AI chatbot for elections fielding public questions on ballots, referendums and the commission's remit, built with the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation. Reachable at izbori.hr under a stylised ballot-box-and-headset icon, the electoral assistant has replied 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since 1 July 2026.","date":"2026-07-01","source":"https://www.bug.hr/servisi/gradjani-dobili-mogucnost-chata-o-izborima-u-hrvatskoj-uz-alat-glasai-61108"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","role":"Public administration counter officer","org":"Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation","text":"Croatia's Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation has switched on an AI virtual assistant for public services at the heart of the state portal gov.hr, delivered inside the National Recovery and Resilience Plan scheme building one contact hub for every e-public service. Residents phrase a query the way they would put it to a clerk across a counter — renewing a passport, enrolling a child, registering a move — and the government service chatbot hands back an ordered reply, pointing at the matching e-service. Availability is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no personal data demanded or retained.","date":"2026-06-09","source":"https://mpudt.gov.hr/vijesti-8/uvodjenje-ai-virtualnog-asistenta-na-portal-gov-hr/30900"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (AZOP)","text":"AI data protection now has a formal reference point in Croatia: on 7 May 2026, the Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP) issued guidance covering anyone who builds, trains, tests, integrates or runs AI systems. Titled \"Data Protection and Artificial Intelligence\", it clarifies GDPR applicability to AI models, assigns controller and processor responsibility, and details lawful processing grounds, privacy-by-design duties, transparency requirements, DPIA thresholds and security measures, alongside model anonymity, LLM risk factors and privacy-enhancing technologies. Organisations gain one benchmark for data protection and AI compliance across the development lifecycle.","date":"2026-05-07","source":"https://azop.hr/objavljene-nove-smjernice-za-subjekte-koje-razvijaju-modele-i-sustave-umjetne-inteligencije/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Transport & Logistics","region":"Croatia","role":"Taxi driver","org":"Verne","text":"Verne, part of the Rimac Group, opened paid robotaxi rides in central Zagreb on 8 April 2026, billed by its partners as the earliest anywhere in Europe. The battery cars run Pony.ai's seventh-generation autonomous driving system, hailed through the Verne app, with Uber app booking promised under a three-way tie-up between Verne, Pony.ai and Uber; trained autonomous vehicle operators sit aboard while the deployment is young, and coverage is meant to widen beyond the initial central districts. Croatia's autonomous taxi fleet is, in chief executive Marko Pejković's words, proof that 'For the first time in Europe there is a real commercial robotaxi service.'","date":"2026-04-08","source":"https://zagdaily.com/connected/croatia-launches-europes-first-commercial-robotaxi-service/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Croatia","role":"Insurance agent","org":"LAQO / Croatia osiguranje","text":"LAQO, Croatia osiguranje's digital brand, is Europe's first insurer selling travel insurance directly through an AI agent, on WhatsApp. Pavle Pauq, the AI insurance sales assistant, queries trip details, offers extra cover, sets the premium and issues personalised payment links. AI-led selling followed LAQO GPT, which resolved 30 per cent of enquiries unaided.","date":"2025-11-26","source":"https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/idete-na-putovanje-laqo-odsad-omogucuje-kupnju-osiguranja-putem-whatsappa-1910860"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Hrvatski sabor (Croatian Parliament)","text":"Croatia has created a distinct AI system endangerment offence under Criminal Code Article 215a, covering danger to life, limb or property from an AI system, with six months to fifteen years by severity. Article 87(33) now defines 'AI system' per the EU AI Act, embedding AI-linked criminal liability in penal law.","date":"2025-10-24","source":"https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2025_11_136_2018.html"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"State School for Public Administration (Republic of Croatia)","text":"Croatia's State School for Public Administration launched AI literacy training for civil servants, teaching staff to speed routine work with AI tools while keeping people accountable for checking outputs. Institute for Development and International Relations specialists ran the session, \"Fundamentals of AI Literacy: Practical Application of AI Tools.\" Croatia joins the earliest nations giving government staff a formal AI skills curriculum.","date":"2025-10-10","source":"https://bore.irmo.hr/irmo-researcher-held-a-workshop-on-artificial-intelligence-at-the-state-school-of-public-administration/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (AZOP)","text":"Croatia's AZOP has published FAQs addressing AI data privacy compliance questions under GDPR, covering three practical areas: classifying when AI tools process personal data, assigning controller versus processor responsibility, and triggering mandatory impact assessments. This is applied artificial intelligence governance—existing law explained, not new legislation created.","date":"2025-08-20","source":"https://azop.hr/umjetna-inteligencija-i-zastita-osobnih-podataka/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Retail & Consumer","region":"Croatia","role":"E-commerce manager","org":"Konzum","text":"Instaleap's AI grocery platform now drives operations at Konzum, the Croatian supermarket chain, merging incoming orders from its websites, apps and marketplace channels into a single workflow. Warehouse staff receive optimised picking routes and task assignments matched to their availability, while shoppers get automatic substitute recommendations whenever stock is depleted. This AI-powered e-grocery system responds to growing consumer appetite for buying groceries online across Croatia.","date":"2025-07-15","source":"https://www.retail-systems.com/rs/Croatia_konzum_boosts_egrocery_operations_with_ai_powered_platform.php"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Croatia","role":"Customer service agent","org":"Wiener osiguranje","text":"Wienka, Wiener osiguranje's new AI insurance chatbot, gives Croatian customers 24/7 access to policy details, claims status, debts and agent contacts. Billed as the market's first such virtual assistant for insurance, it answers routine questions instantly, cutting the need for phone calls or branch visits.","date":"2025-07-09","source":"https://financije.hr/wiener-osiguranje-zabiljezilo-rast-premije-od-141-posto-imamo-prvi-ai-chatbot-na-hrvatskom-trzistu-osiguranja/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Government of Croatia (Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation)","text":"The government is drafting a National Plan for the Development of Artificial Intelligence to 2032, plus a 2026 to 2028 Action Plan. Three pillars frame this Croatia AI policy: public policy, investment, conditions for effective AI adoption—education, economic digitalisation, research and innovation support, citizen data protection. Experts drafting the national AI policy first met on 27 May 2025.","date":"2025-05-02","source":"https://mpudt.gov.hr/vijesti-8/sjednica-vlade-pri-izradi-planova-kojima-ce-se-regulirati-umjetna-inteligencija-u-fokusu-sigurnost-gradjana-i-njihovih-podataka/30074?big=0"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Retail & Consumer","region":"Croatia","role":"Customer service agent","org":"SPAR Hrvatska","text":"SPAR Hrvatska deployed AI chatbots in retail across WhatsApp and Viber, working with partner Infobip. Shoppers get nearby store locations, Sunday opening hours and weekly deals, plus live agent support and vacancy listings through WhatsApp, broadening conversational AI in retail nationwide.","date":"2025-04-28","source":"https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/spar-i-infobip-lansirali-chatbot-konacno-brzi-odgovor-koja-trgovina-radi-nedjeljom-1857554"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","role":"Judge","org":"Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation","text":"ANON, Croatia's new AI court decision anonymisation system, strips identifying details from rulings across every court and posts them to one searchable public portal. Linked to eSpis, it pulls each ruling 15 days after dispatch for automatic redaction and metadata indexing, retiring manual redaction of judicial rulings nationwide.","date":"2025-01-01","source":"https://mpudt.gov.hr/anonimizacija-i-objava-sudskih-odluka/29751?lang=hr"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Croatia","org":"Ministarstvo pravosuđa, uprave i digitalne transformacije (MPUDT)","text":"Croatia now has seven bodies handling AI fundamental rights oversight. The Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation listed them to the European Commission under Article 77(2) of the EU AI Act: the Ombudswoman, the Ombudswoman for Children, the Gender Equality Ombudswoman, the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities, the Personal Data Protection Agency (AZOP), the State Electoral Commission and the Agency for Electronic Media. Each authority is enforcing rights protections against high-risk AI systems.","date":"2024-12-05","source":"https://mpudt.gov.hr/vijesti/objavljen-popis-nadleznih-tijela-sukladno-uredbi-o-umjetnoj-inteligenciji/29657"}]}